Posted on March 30, 2026, 1:52 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
The first step is to pronounce and remember: Baahj-Nuh-Waahv-Joh Ee-Tah-Kook-Venny. The name itself slows you down. “Baaj Nwaavjo” in Havasupai means “where the ancient people roamed,” while “I’tah Kukveni” is the Hopi translation of “ancestral footsteps.” The monument’s full name makes clear that this is not empty land, not just scenery, and not simply an […]
Posted on March 24, 2024, 9:37 pm, by QT Luong, under
Announcements.
Imagine standing next to the ancient Nankoweap Granaries, perched 500 feet above the majestic Colorado River. From this vantage point, the Grand Canyon reveals itself in all its splendor—a testament to the power of nature. As you gaze down at the fast waters below, framed by towering cliffs that have stood for millennia, you’re filled […]
Posted on February 19, 2021, 3:00 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Day 13 Grand Canyon National Park sees crowds of 5 million visitors per year, but its unknown neighbor, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, is a place of solitude. Protecting the entire Grand Canyon watershed, the monument extends from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to forested mountains 8,000 feet high. In the southeast section of […]
Posted on February 12, 2021, 2:54 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Day 12 To rest my legs from hiking about 18 miles the day before, my plan was to spend a lot of time behind the wheel. I would circle Vermilion Cliffs National Monument (136 miles) and also reach two faraway Grand Canyon points, one at its very east at river level, the other at the […]
Posted on February 5, 2021, 8:43 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Day 11 Zion National Park’s Virgin River Narrows is arguably the most famous canyon hike in the world. Being that Zion National Park is the 7th most crowded national park (per this way of evaluating the “crowd factor”), the Virgin Narrows can feel downright crowded (Five ways to photograph the Zion Narrows without people). The […]
Posted on December 10, 2020, 10:58 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Day 3 After arriving at the trailhead for Waterman Peak in Ironwood Forest National Monument at 12:30 am, I walked around to locate the trail. Having driven straight from the previous sunset location, I had re-arrange the gear in my new rental car to make room for sleeping before setting up the alarm clock for […]
Posted on April 30, 2020, 9:28 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part 4 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Although a primary helper of biological diversity, the desert ironwood tree for which Ironwood Forest National Monument was named is hardly a visually impressive feature. On the other hand, independently from its remarkable biological diversity, you cannot miss the prominent 3,907-foot Ragged […]
Posted on April 23, 2020, 8:43 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part 3 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Of all the North American deserts, the Sonoran Desert is distinguished by its trees – the Joshua Tree growing in the Mojave is a yucca and lacks wood. Desert ironwood trees (Olneya tesota) grow only in the Sonoran, where they are one […]
Posted on April 9, 2020, 7:11 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part 2 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Although quite obscure in the big scheme of things, the locations in Sonoran Desert National Monument that we visited in the first part of the article are the most obvious because they are along the monument’s designated trails. Those trails predate the […]
Posted on April 2, 2020, 5:13 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part 1 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 The Sonoran Desert is the most biologically diverse desert in North America – or maybe not, see discussion in the last part of this series. Thanks to the national park designation, the most well-known track of Sonoran Desert consists of Saguaro National […]
